Is every new purchased female pregnant?

My local pet store has no idea how to sex chinchillas - I do it once in a while when my friend is working - so I wouldn't be surprised if people are getting pregnant chinchillas from them.

It seems, however, that my well-pedigreed, shown, breeder chinchillas don't have nearly the desire to reproduce that "pets" and "rescues" do...

I always list if a female I am selling could possibly be pregnant. Some breeders like to buy an animal that is already proven. On the side point many experienced and not experienced breeders have told me that they are afraid to post on here because of the way they have seen other people treated, which is a shame because it doesn't let the forum reach it's full potential.

chechinchillas said:

On the side point many experienced and not experienced breeders have told me that they are afraid to post on here because of the way they have seen other people treated, which is a shame because it doesn't let the forum reach it's full potential.

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I've been on this forum for a few years now, and I rarely see breeders get treated poorly. From what I've witnessed many breeders have mentors, so they usually don't need the forum's help for the 'common sense' stuff. As it's been stated it's the BYB's and pet owners that want to make cute babies that get slammed. Quite honestly I'm glad that they are put in their place for repeatedly making the same poor decisions. As a pet owner who didn't know any better I got sucked into buying from BYB's before I found this forum. I lost my most beloved chin to malo, and while malo can pop up in any herd, this same animal was very poorly bred and had many other flaws.

chechinchillas said:

I always list if a female I am selling could possibly be pregnant. Some breeders like to buy an animal that is already proven. On the side point many experienced and not experienced breeders have told me that they are afraid to post on here because of the way they have seen other people treated, which is a shame because it doesn't let the forum reach it's full potential.

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This has always bothered me and my thoughts have been echoed by large breeders on another forum: Why sell a pregnant female, if the chin was good enough for you to put with a male, then why change your mind mid term and get rid of the female? Why would a breeder buy a pregnant female that was bred to your herd standards and not theirs?

I agre with chechinchillas, I know many that will not touch the forums.

Why sell a pregnant female, if the chin was good enough for you to put with a male, then why change your mind mid term and get rid of the female?

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As a small breeder, my main reason is that the chin in question becomes related to everything else after a few generations. Since I can only keep so many kits, and they are better than her, why not allow someone else to use her as an improvement in their herd?

Why would a breeder buy a pregnant female that was bred to your herd standards and not theirs?

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A twofer of course! You get the mom, who has the genetics you want, and half of an entirely different set of genetics, which you may or may not want. More often than not if the baby(s) turn out nice the original breeder wants them back which equals more trading for outcrosses. Also, if I'm spending top dollar I like to know the female is currently capable of producing a baby, even if it isn't of my own breeding.

This is all for small herds. Larger herds turnover when the females no longer produce the desired quantity of kits. If they drop to 1-2 per year, then they are pulled and sold. In their prime those animals were not for sale, and in the past the big breeders would pelt them to keep the lines from getting out. Nowadays it isn't so competitive so you have a chance and picking up some nice stuff.

My reasoning is that I am constantly evaluating my herd and keeping the most highest of quality. I also keep babies back from time to time for future breeding, so I sell breeders sometimes to make room for a younger better quality breeder. I have myself bought possibly pregnant females from breeders who have an excellent quality of animals, but want to keep their operation on a smaller scale due to available room in their chin building.

So how does a female all of a sudden become related to everything during mid term of a pregnancy? I would think you would know that prior to putting the female with the male.

How does a chin building get full during mid pregnancy of a female also? These answers just make no sense.

It of course does not happen all of the sudden. Animals are evaluated that are in breeding. As the younger babies grow up you either keep them or sell them. The ones you sell are not low quality, but breeders are always striving to produce the best animals they possibly can. The babies you sell may have really nice fur quality, but not as densely furred as other animals in your herd. If you have a successful breeding program you are going to produce babies that exceed the quality of their parents that you are going to want to keep to improve your herd. In turn you will sell the animals that are in breeding and possibly pregnant, that may be a really nice quality, just not as blue hued or large or densely furred as what you kept. I have never had a problem placing a baby or an adult with a great home.

Chinchillas won't always breed right away, this is a well known fact. When you breed in runs, sometimes a male will have four to six females and you could have other kits growing out when you put the run together that you may also want in the run in the future. Say it takes a male one month to get the job done with three females and three months for the others. After three months, your grower is of age and did well at show and you'd like to place her with him. You have three females already visibly pregnant and the other three not yet showing signs. Maybe after looking at the animals and re-evaluating them, you decide that one of the females not showing signs isn't as good of a pairing for the male as you thought she was compared to your grower. If you don't have a different male to put that female with, breeders are not going to hang onto her for four months to see if she litters.

For large breeders, they check the cards to see when the female last littered and what males she was placed with. If she hasn't produced in two years, she gets pulled and sold or pelted. This is how I've gotten a few very nice standards and their babies from lines unrelated to mine. As Tara said, it's a two-fer and can be very nice when it happens depending on how the kits turn out.

That makes more sense Tabitha than the "all of a sudden I have too many chinchillas in the barn or all of a sudden they are all related to each other".